New Book Delves Into Manhasset Bay's Rich History

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — An archivist and special collections librarian at the Port Washington Public Library is out with her debut book that dives into the rich history of Port Washington and Manhasset Bay.

Featuring transcribed oral history interviews, historic documents and a trove of archival photos from the library's own collection, as well as from longtime residents, Vanessa Nastro, the main author behind "Along Manhasset Bay," delves into the town's historic traditions. The 130-page book relates the history of the area's shell fishing, boat-building, recreation and leisure, sand mining and hospitality industries with photos and captions dating to the mid-to late-1800s.

Speaking from her home Wednesday night, Nastro told Patch in a phone interview she and fellow researchers delved deep into the library's own archival collection.

"We had images that had no dates on them, no titles. There were people in these images that, you know, there were no names on them," she said. "So it really, really helped us build up to build up our own data within our archives."

They even stumbled upon material that hadn't been digitized and was, until now, undiscovered.

"I had a resident in town that gave me this beautiful illustrated map of all these designated real estate developments in Manorhaven, and we wanted to dig up a little bit more information on that. Unfortunately we hit some dead ends on that, but it's the process," Nastro said.

It also includes images of old patent information for an interlocking, steel canoe designed by a sheet-metal and airplane patent developer. The information was buried in the library's Mason Collection, named after Stanley Mason, a photographer who ran a studio on Port Washington's Main Street and shot thousands of images of the town. The patent information discovery turned into a rabbit hole for the researchers, who ended up seeking out the help of a patent librarian at a Smithtown library to write the caption for the patent photos.

"He was able to help us suss out information on this and on [developer Edmund] Carns, so we were able to write a small caption about it," Nastro said. "But before that we had no information on these photos, basically."

Although Port Washington Public Library researchers compiled the book, Nastro emphasized other libraries helped contribute research and images, and the book covers more than just Port Washington's history — it covers many of the surrounding communities.

"I know in many respects [Manhasset] Bay is almost like a birthright for Port Washington people, but we do look at other areas," she said with a chuckle. "We look at Manhasset, we look at Great Neck. These are other communities along the bay. We do touch all these."

The book, the 10th installment in the Port Washington Public Library Local History Center publication series, features excerpts from the center's collection of about 200 oral histories, which are one-on-one interviews recorded decades ago. It includes artwork, handicrafts, patent information and even prospective real estate ventures from the 1920s and '30s.

"All of these subjects turn it into much more than a pictorial view of Manhasset Bay," Nastro said. "I think the chapters read like threads of a story."

The book is mainly photo-based with captions, but readers will find accompanying excerpts from first-hand accounts of people who were alive at the time. This includes business-owners talking about their companies and members of boat-building families who grew up along the bay.

The library's collection does include material related to Long Island's earliest inhabitants, such as the Matinecock Native Americans.

"Therefore the bulk of images and accompanying history for the book focus mainly on the mid 19th century through early to mid 20th century," she said.

However, the book mentions Native American history in shell-fishing in the introduction, she said.

The library also plans to develop a historical walking tour app that allows people to explore the town's deep history at their own pace, either alone or in a group.

The app will be free and be available on both Android and iPhone smartphones. It will use GPS technology to pinpoint the user’s location and provide location specific oral history clips, photographs and text in multiple languages.

Nastro said the researchers have narrowed the tour down to 20 spots across roughly a quarter-mile in Port Washington. The library also hopes to include a separate boating tour through the same app.

All author royalties from the book's sale will be donated to the library's Local History Center.

"Along Manhasset Bay" is available now on Amazon for $12.99 on Kindle and $18.17 for a paperback copy. It is also available at the PWPL Local History Bookstore.